New Swiss Views

First edition of New Swiss Views by Marwan Bassiouni(2024)

First impression 

Medium format hardback in new condition 

Signed by Marwan to title page

About

New Swiss Views  is a photographic journey across the Swiss landscape that presents the unique perspective of the Swiss Muslim community for the first time.

Between August 2021 and November 2022 Marwan Bassiouni travelled throughout nearly two dozen cantons across the Swiss landscape searching for mosques with views on the local geography and culture. The artist ventured up and down mountains, alongside lakes and into the hearts of numerous cities, suburbs and villages with the intention of suggesting an alternative representation of ‘Islam’ in Switzerland. The photographs resulting from Bassiouni's road trip show Islam as an integral part of a contemporary multi-cultural landscape and identifies a unique Islamic identity while hinting at various social and political circumstances surrounding the small Muslim community. The photographs present the Swiss landscape from a new point of view while suggesting a contemplation that goes beyond prevalent stereotypes of the Muslim religion.

New Swiss Views offers a rhythmic and pictorial sequence of 41 color photographs. Each image shares the story of a particular place at a particular moment in time while depicting a real situation corresponding to an existing reality. The project is the sequel to the celebrated New Dutch Views for which Marwan Bassiouni photographed the Dutch landscape from inside the prayer rooms of Islamic places of worship.